JASON WU.

Jason Wu's NYFW collection could not have ticked more of the right boxes: elegant, feminine, young and eclectic. The collection was fresh, with classic pussy-bow and high-neck collared blouses being teased with high-waisted "roller-girl" hot pants. The shapes were exciting - although admittedly not new - and could easily appeal to the masses. The sleek elegance of the compositions of the bottom two are the highlights for me- the feminine and modest striped blouse being offset by a pair of statement shorts, and with the addition of subtle accessories what is there not to like?

The clean eye-make up yet statement coral orange lips were perfectly tamed by the mainly monochrome palette. Shoes too were kept simple but they seemed to work perfectly with every outfit.

The femininity of the collection stands out through the sharply articulated waist lines highlighted by the shorts and many rippling peplum skirts. I have never been much of a pattern lover so i must stress that I have deliberately not displayed the many disc-printed garments which were shown.

The photo directly above shows my favourite of the collection- a hard-shouldered leather jacket sinched in at the waist to create a beautiful peplum shape. The edgy-ness of the leather has then been offset with a delicate emerald collar- perfection. The jacket epitomises the type of leather item I am looking for this Winter.

This has been one of my favourite collections so far and has definitely influenced me to re-think what to wear to LFW!

     

STREET STYLE PHOTOGRAPHY INSPIRATION FROM TOMMY TON

Street style from New York, only a few days until the madness begins in London.

Needless to say that I am excited.

NYFW BEGINS WITH SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING BORROWED, SOMETHING BLUE...

The highlight out of the collections released yesterday (the first day of New York Fashion Week) for me is definitely Tara Subkoff for IOC - Imitation Of Christ, (a bizarre label name I agree.) The relaunch for the label showcased renovated vintage pieces as well as hand-made garments from scratch. The collection saw pastel lace fabrics with excessive draping and elegant cut-outs, many of the dresses held a hint of the flapper style too, looking as if they had come out of The Great Gatsby. The hand-made floral headbands and embroidery details really topped off the show.

At this point (if you have not read the show's review yet) you are most likely wondering about the absurdity of the title choice, because the real highlight? Lydia Hearst (the beautiful American actress and socialite) got married before the show began, genuinely. The photograph on the top right is hard evidence for you; although I still can't decide whether it would be nice to have your wedding right before a fashion show or not, but then again it is NYFW.

The 'nomad-like' yet dainty elegance of the collection immediately reminded me of a photo shoot titled 'Runaways' by one of my favourite photographers Anne He. This collection of photographs perfectly summarises the IOC collection- a small dip into the Tim Walker-esque world that we all dream of visiting.

“Three years ago, I picked up a camera. In wonder of the possibilities of light and color and movement, I quickly became obsessed. My hungry mind devoured the works of photographers old and new—Sally Mann, Anne W. Brigman, Tim Walker, Paolo Roversi, Candace Meyer. I fell down rabbit holes and found myself wandering amongst tulle gowns the color of cotton candy, washed ashore where little men in top hats danced around a mammoth cardboard swan. I melted into the rich silver sepia of the American South, letting its gnarled roots and misty tendrils embalm me in ether. All of it was so achingly beautiful.”

-Anne He.

Would you believe me if I told you she was only seventeen? Yep, thought so.

THE WAIT IS OVER

And in a week's time we will be embraced with some of the world's most statured characters in the fashion industry as next season's "must-haves and faux pas's" are revealed: London Fashion Week. There is something undeniably unique when it's London's turn- the quintessentially British way in which the entire nation get's involved, whether it be blogging, street-style or for those who are lucky, doing the task of sitting front row at a show. September's fashion season is one that I look forward to every year and my high hopes are always raised by the never-ending ideas which designers seem to have and their collections - however weird and wacky. 

I am more than excited (to put it lightly) to go to LFW (Somerset House) again this year, the street-style shots and interviews on Elle TV in light of the build-up to next week has been enough to start off the buzz of fashion week. I look forward the most to Monday's shows: Burberry Prorsum, Erdem and Christopher Kane, must I say anymore? I am also intrigued to see the outcome of collections from the houses of Louise Gray and David Koma. One of my highlights of fashion week is rushing onto Style.com to flick through the show reports and photographs from each day only to discover collections that you can't get enough of from designers that you'd never heard of before. My most prominent experience of this, that I can recall, would be discovering Charles Anastase's collection and falling for the subtly gothic shapes immediately.

Of course we all wait eagerly tonight for news from New York- with the state-side's fashion week beginning today. One thing's for sure, although I admit I prefer Milan/Paris/London Fashion week, NYFW never fails to suprise.

I thought i'd take a step back from this essay, ten steps back to fashion ten years ago. It's interesting to make comparison's to fashion from a decade away and to see how far fashion has come (as well as feeling completely chuffed with yourself when you spot a style that was revived in more recent collections).

Alexander Mcqueen AW 2001-2002

Christian Lacroix AW 2001-2002

Gianfranco Ferre AW 2001-2002

Russell Sage AW 2001-2002

What/Who do you predict will be the highlight show-stopper this season?

BEEN REVIEWING THE UPCOMING & UNRELEASED ALBUM OF

...The Subways- 'Celebrity and money'. 

Up until I was given the lucky opportunity to review the album (by Annie Fernandez) I had not heard a lot about The Subways. The Subways- I had surely heard of this band before? I was hit with that unruly feeling of recognising something but not being able to place exactly how- then I realised that their song 'We don't need money to have a good time' had been in my itunes for the last few months. I may be biased with having already fallen for this song before listening to the rest of the album, but to me this is by far the highlight of the album- a fun rock song with a 'Let's dance to joy division' (by The Wombats) type feel.

The band in general remind me a lot of The Wombats- one of my ultimate guilty pleasures. A couple of songs carry a hint of Funeral Party and Pigeon Detectives-"esque" vibes to them too, but what makes this band really stand out? The female vocals (Charlotte Cooper). However, I personally felt that the album had great melodies but was let down a lot by female vocals which didn't quite seem in sync. The album was disappointing in light of 'We don't need money to have a good time', but many of the songs turned out to be real feel-good listens- barring the three that I deleted immediately after one play.

The album is out on the 19th September and I recommend it for those with an interest in pop rock/alternative indie rock- but I am no music expert to say the least!

A taster to end with...

A NIGHT LIKE NO OTHER.

I was lucky enough to attend the first night of the new over the shoulder 1st person shooter game - Resistance 3's launch event. With the warning of "comfortable footwear and no heels" being strongly enforced to all guests, I guess we should've expected what was coming. Groups of 7 took it in turn to experience the "show". We were plunged into the darkness with only three dim torches between us and the instructions to duck, run, deliver the code and to not be eliminated. In the next twenty minutes (of what genuinely felt like a lifetime) we found ourselves terrifyingly sprinting through concentration camp-esque ruins in the pitch black and frantically locking out the "abandoned victims" which we were being chased by. The experience was essentially the game in real life- the show made fully-grown businessmen resort to high-pitched screams whilst hiding behind characters half their height- the production by the infamous Punchdrunk was an undeniably genius promo idea and a night that I will never forget.

Many thanks to the beautiful Annie Fernandez (above) for the opportunity! It was to our disappointment that expected celebrities such as Kristen Stewart failed to appear- with the initial purpose being to interview several A-lister's and to report back to PA (Press Association).

FINALLY FOUND

the roll of film and got it developed.

Taken from the CSM end of degree show a few months back. Just had the most insane unusual experience at the Resistance 3 launch event, photographs to soon follow.

I am retreating from tumblr and easing myself back into blogspot, expect simple posts!